Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Stock Position Boosted by Capital Fund Management S.A.

Key Points

• Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 15.4%, now owning approximately 0.10% of the company, valued at over $13 million.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Ralph Lauren shares, with Citigroup setting it at $295 and Telsey Advisory Group at $335, reflecting a generally positive forecast for the stock.
• Ralph Lauren reported earnings of $3.77 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenue showing a 13.7% increase from the previous year.

Capital Fund Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 15.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,149 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 7,903 shares during the quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. owned 0.10% of Ralph Lauren worth $13,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,512,903 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $333,958,000 after acquiring an additional 275,391 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 24,164.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254,292 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $56,132,000 after purchasing an additional 253,244 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter worth about $37,517,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter worth about $23,520,000. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth about $20,788,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on RL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock traded up $5.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $292.46. 81,974 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 859,552. The stock's fifty day moving average is $286.51 and its 200 day moving average is $259.17. The stock has a market cap of $17.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.84. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 12 month low of $167.32 and a 12 month high of $306.34.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.50 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.91% and a return on equity of 33.72%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the textile maker to reacquire up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Profile

Ralph Lauren Corporation designs, markets, and distributes lifestyle products in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers apparel, including a range of men's, women's, and children's clothing; footwear and accessories, which comprise casual shoes, dress shoes, boots, sneakers, sandals, eyewear, watches, fashion and fine jewelry, scarves, hats, gloves, and umbrellas, as well as leather goods, such as handbags, luggage, small leather goods, and belts; home products consisting of bed and bath lines, furniture, fabric and wallcoverings, floor coverings, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, dining, decorative accessories, and giftware; and fragrances.